Intrusion detection is a type of security management system for computers and networks. An intrusion detection system (IDS) gathers and analyzes information from various areas within a computer or a network to identify possible security breaches, which include both intrusions (attacks from outside the organization) and misuse (attacks from within the organization). Intrusion detection typically uses vulnerability assessment (sometimes referred to as scanning), which is a technology developed to assess the security of a computer system or network. Intrusion detection functions include: monitoring and analyzing both user and system activities; analyzing system configurations and vulnerabilities; assessing system and file integrity; ability to recognize patterns typical of attacks; analysis of abnormal activity patterns; and tracking user policy violations.